XI.
Postero die Germanorum acies trans Visurgim stetit. Caesar nisi pontibus praesidiisque inpositis dare in discrimen legiones haud imperatorium ratus, equitem vado tramittit. praefuere Stertinius et e numero primipilarium Aemilius, distantibus locis invecti, ut hostem diducerent. qua celerrimus amnis, Chariovalda dux Batavorum erupit. eum Cherusci fugam simulantes in planitiem saltibus circumiectam traxere: dein coorti et undique effusi trudunt adversos, instant cedentibus collectosque in orbem pars congressi, quidam eminus proturbant. Chariovalda diu sustentata hostium saevitia, hortatus suos ut ingruentis catervas globo perfringerent, atque ipse densissimos inrumpens, congestis telis et suffosso equo labitur, ac multi nobilium circa: ceteros vis sua aut equites cum Stertinio Aemilioque subvenientes periculo exemere.
11.
Next day the Germans formed up for battle on the east side of the Visurgis. Germanicus thought it would be unworthy of a general to launch the legions to the attack in a reckless manner, without first establishing bridges and troops to defend them. He had the cavalry led by Stertinius and Aemilius, the latter a senior centurion, cross the river by fords at points distant from one another to divide the enemy forces. Chariovalda, head of the Batavi, charged where the current was strongest and the Cherushi, pretending fear, lured him into a clearing surrounded by woods, then in a dense mass they sprang out from every side, thrusting back the pursuers and keeping at their heels as they gave way. Those who had formed a defensive circle, part of them attacked at close quarters, part of them harassed from afar. Chariovalda sustained the German fury for a long time, then exhorted his men to force a passage with one concerted effort through the ever more pressing German hordes. He threw himself into the thickest of the fray, but overcome by a storm of darts, his horse slashed open under him, he sank mortally wounded to the ground. Around him many noblemen lost their lives; the rest either escaped danger thanks to their own bravery or were saved by the cavalry of Stertinius or Aemilius that came to their rescue.
XII.
Caesar transgressus Visurgim indicio perfugae cognoscit delectum ab Arminio locum pugnae; convenisse et alias nationes in silvam Herculi sacram ausurosque nocturnam castrorum oppugnationem. habita indici fides et cernebantur ignes, suggressique propius speculatores audiri fremitum equorum inmensique et inconditi agminis murmur attulere. igitur propinquo summae rei discrimine explorandos militum animos ratus, quonam id modo incorruptum foret secum agitabat. tribunos et centuriones laeta saepius quam comperta nuntiare, libertorum servilia ingenia, amicis inesse adulationem; si contio vocetur, illic quoque quae pauci incipiant reliquos adstrepere. penitus noscendas mentes, cum secreti et incustoditi inter militaris cibos spem aut metum proferrent.
12.
After he crossed the Visurgis, Germanicus found out from a deserter the place chosen by Arminius for the final battle, and also came to know that other tribes had gathered in a forest sacred to Hercules, intending to launch an assault on the Roman camp. The informant was believed, since [enemy] fires could be made out [in the distance]. On going closer, the scouts could hear the neighing of horses, the murmur and the discordant noises of an immense and undisciplined mass of men on the move. Caesar, therefore, in the imminence of the decisive confrontation, thought wise to sound the hearts of the soldiers and was considering in what way he could do it with undoubted accuracy: tribunes and centurions, more often than not, gave reassuring rather than reliable information; the attitude of freedmen was servile; friends tended to flatter, and even if he called a general assembly, there also all would loudly applaud what a few would say. Minds were better read when the men were on their own, unobserved while eating together their rations: only then did their hopes or fears find true expression.
XIII.
Nocte coepta egressus augurali per occulta et vigilibus ignara, comite uno, contectus umeros ferina pelle, adit castrorum vias, adsistit tabernaculis fruiturque fama sui, cum hic nobilitatem ducis, decorem alius, plurimi patientiam, comitatem, per seria per iocos eundem animum laudibus ferrent reddendamque gratiam in acie faterentur, simul perfidos et ruptores pacis ultioni et gloriae mactandos. inter quae unus hostium, Latinae linguae sciens, acto ad vallum equo voce magna coniuges et agros et stipendii in dies, donec bellaretur, sestertios centenos, si quis transfugisset, Arminii nomine pollicetur. intendit ea contumelia legionum iras: veniret dies, daretur pugna; sumpturum militem Germanorum agros, tracturum coniuges; accipere omen et matrimonia ac pecunias hostium praedae destinare. tertia ferme vigilia adsultatum est castris sine coniectu teli, postquam crebras pro munimentis cohortes et nihil remissum sensere.
13.
At dusk, after leaving the augural tent through a hidden exit unknown to the sentinels, the skin of a wild beast thrown over his shoulders and accompanied by one man only, he walked the streets of the camp, lingering near the tents, and listening – well pleased with what he heard – to the soldiers talking about him, as one praised his nobility, another his good looks, most extolled his tolerance and affability, his equanimity in all circumstances, whether serious or jocular. They agreed they would repay their debt of gratitude to him on the field of battle, and in the process, they would offer up those perfidious violators of the peace to a righteous vengeance for the glory of their general. Just then, one of the enemies who spoke Latin, having pushed his horse up close to the rampart, at the top of his voice and in Arminius’ name promised any who would desert wives, land, and pay of one hundred sesterces for each day of the war. The affront incensed the legions even further: let the new day break and battle be offered, they clamored, and Roman soldiers would themselves take the German land and drag away the wives by right of conquest. They welcomed the omen and regarded the women and the money as so much plunder reserved for them. Shortly after midnight, the camp came under attack, but no missile was exchanged after the Germans realized that the cohorts were at their posts shoulder to shoulder and that no precaution had been spared.
XIV.
Nox eadem laetam Germanico quietem tulit, viditque se operatum et, sanguine sacri respersa praetexta, pulchriorem aliam manibus aviae Augustae accepisse. auctus omine, addicentibus auspiciis, vocat contionem et quae sapientia provisa aptaque inminenti pugnae disserit. non campos modo militi Romano ad proelium bonos, sed si ratio adsit, silvas et saltus; nec enim inmensa barbarorum scuta, enormis hastas inter truncos arborum et enata humo virgulta perinde haberi quam pila et gladios et haerentia corpori tegmina. denserent ictus, ora mucronibus quaererent: non loricam Germano, non galeam, ne scuta quidem ferro nervove firmata, sed viminum textus vel tenuis et fucatas colore tabulas; primam utcumque aciem hastatam, ceteris praeusta aut brevia tela. iam corpus ut visu torvom et ad brevem impetum validum, sic nulla vulnerum patientia: sine pudore flagitii, sine cura ducum abire, fugere, pavidos adversis, inter secunda non divini, non humani iuris memores. si taedio viarum ac maris finem cupiant, hac acie parari: propiorem iam Albim quam Rhenum neque bellum ultra, modo se patris patruique vestigia prementem isdem in terris victorem sisterent.
14.
The same night brought Germanicus a happy dream, in which he saw that he had been offering a sacrifice and, because the blood of the victim had spilled on his toga praetexta, that he had received a new and more beautiful one from the hands of his grandmother Augusta. His spirits raised by the augury, which was confirmed by the auspices, he called an assembly and went over all the provisions, made after mature consideration, that were appropriate in view of the imminent battle. Not only the open fields, he explained, were favorable to them in the fighting, but, if the right strategy were used, the forested heights as well. Indeed, the immense shields and the extra-long spears of the enemy, among the trunks of trees and the shrubby growth pushing up from the ground, were not as handy as javelins, swords, and the tight-fitting armor of the Romans. They were to strike without pause and direct the point of the steel at the face. Germans had no breastplate, no helmets, and even their shields were not reinforced with steel and leather, but made of mere wickerwork or of thin painted boards. Only their first line was equipped, as best they could, with spears, the rest had stakes hardened at the end with fire or provided with short metal tips. Yes, their bodies were a fearsome sight, capable of concentrated effort, yet had no endurance for wounds. They gave up the fight and took to their heels, insensible to shame, unmindful of the leaders’ commands. Easily disheartened by defeat, success made them forget all laws, human or divine. If they, [the soldiers of Rome], were exhausted by the marches on land, by the voyaging on the sea and longed for an end of their labors, the battle ahead was their opportunity. The river Albis was now closer than the Rhine and there was to be no further war beyond that point, provided they placed him victorious in those same lands in which he was retracing the footsteps of his father and his uncle.
XV.
Orationem ducis secutus militum ardor, signumque pugnae datum. nec Arminius aut ceteri Germanorum proceres omittebant suos quisque testari, hos esse Romanos Variani exercitus fugacissimos qui ne bellum tolerarent, seditionem induerint; quorum pars onusta vulneribus terga, pars fluctibus et procellis fractos artus infensis rursum hostibus, adversis dis obiciant, nulla boni spe. classem quippe et avia Oceani quaesita ne quis venientibus occurreret, ne pulsos premeret: sed ubi miscuerint manus, inane victis ventorum remorumve subsidium. meminissent modo avaritiae, crudelitatis, superbiae: aliud sibi reliquum quam tenere libertatem aut mori ante servitium?
15.
Germanicus’ speech excited the ardor of the troops and the signal of attack was given. Neither did Arminius and the other chiefs miss the opportunity to assure their men that the Romans facing them had been fastest among Varus’ troops to run from the battlefield and that, to avoid having to fight again, had been most active in the recent mutinies. Part of them, they said, still had their backs scarred by wounds; part of them were again exposing their limbs, broken by waves and storms, to the fury of the enemy, though the gods were against them and they had no hope of success. Naturally, they had placed their trust in the fleet and the trackless expanse of the ocean, to avoid meeting opposition during their marches, to avoid being pressed hard in their rout. Yet, once the fighting would begin, wind and oars would be of no assistance to the vanquished. They, the Germans, must only remember the greed, the cruelty, the arrogance of the Romans: what else was left to them but to hold on to liberty or die, sooner than be reduced to slavery?
XVI.
Sic accensos et proelium poscentis in campum, cui Idistaviso nomen, deducunt. is medius inter Visurgim et collis, ut ripae fluminis cedunt aut prominentia montium resistunt, inaequaliter sinuatur. pone tergum insurgebat silva editis in altum ramis et pura humo inter arborum truncos. campum et prima silvarum barbara acies tenuit: soli Cherusci iuga insedere ut proeliantibus Romanis desuper incurrerent. noster exercitus sic incessit: auxiliares Galli Germanique in fronte, post quos pedites sagittatii; dein quattuor legiones et cum duabus praetoriis cohortibus ac delecto equite Caesar; exim totidem aliae legiones et levis armatura cum equite sagittario ceteraeque sociorum cohortes. intentus paratusque miles ut ordo agminis in aciem adsisteret.
16.
Thus, the Germans, their anger now at a pitch and demanding action, were led to a plain called Idistaviso, situated between the Visurgis and a chain of hills and extending unevenly, being wider where the river moves away from the hills or more restricted where the projections of the hills resist the encroachments of the river. At the back of the Germans loomed a forest the trees of which had the branches placed high on the trunks and bare ground between them at the base. The barbarian army held the plain and the edge of the forest; only the Cherusci took position on the heights, ready to charge from above the Romans intent on fighting. Our army moved forward in the following order: the Gallic and German auxiliaries were in front, after them the archers on foot; next came four legions and Germanicus with two Praetorian cohorts and picked cavalry. At the end of the column were the other four legions, light infantry, mounted archers, and the rest of the allied cohorts. The soldiers showed great care and precision in keeping the order of march unchanged, while forming up for battle.
XVII.
Visis Cheruscorum catervis, quae per ferociam proruperant, validissimos equitum incurrere latus, Stertinium cum ceteris turmis circumgredi tergaque invadere iubet, ipse in tempore adfuturus. interea pulcherrimum augurium, octo aquilae petere silvas et intrare visae imperatorem advertere. exclamat irent, sequerentur Romanas avis, propria legionum numina. simul pedestris acies infertur et praemissus eques postremos ac latera impulit. mirumque dictu, duo hostium agmina diversa fuga, qui silvam tenuerant, in aperta, qui campis adstiterant, in silvam ruebant. medii inter hos Cherusci collibus detrudebantur, inter quos insignis Arminius manu voce vulnere sustentabat pugnam. incubueratque sagittariis, illa rupturus, ni Raetorum Vindelicorumque et Gallicae cohortes signa obiecissent. nisu tamen corporis et impetu equi pervasit, oblitus faciem suo curore ne nosceretur. quidam adgnitum a Chaucis inter auxilia Romana agentibus emissumque tradiderunt. virtus seu fraus eadem Inguiomero effugium dedit: ceteri passim trucidati. et plerosque tranare Visurgim conantis iniecta tela aut vis fluminis, postremo moles ruentium et incidentes ripae operuere. quidam turpi fuga in summa arborum nisi ramisque se occultantes admotis sagittariis per ludibrium figebantur, alios prorutae arbores adflixere.
17.
On seeing the droves of Cherusci spring to the attack with savage impetus, Germanicus sent the best of the cavalry to charge their flank and ordered Stertinius with the remaining squadrons to take the way around the enemy and fall on them from the rear. Himself, he kept back ready to intervene at the right moment. Just then, a most wonderful presage attracted the attention of the general: eight eagles were seen flying towards to forest and entering it. At that, he shouted to his men to advance, to follow the birds of Rome, the true protective deities of the legions. The infantry instantly leapt forward in battle array, with the cavalry ahead of them investing the enemy on the flanks and in the rear. Incredibly, two enemy columns were now seen fleeing in opposite directions: those posted in the forest flew out into the open, those on the plain ran to the forest. Halfway between them, the Cherusci, were being dislodged from the heights. Prominent among them, Arminius was trying to sustain the fight by urging, gesturing, and pointing to his wound; he had hurled himself at the archers and would have broken their ranks, but for the Raetian, Vindelician, and Gallic cohorts, which contained his attacks. Yet, thanks to a last effort and the momentum of his horse, he forced his way through, his face daubed with his own blood to avoid discovery. Some have said that the Chauci, serving with the Roman auxiliaries, had recognized him and let him pass. Either valor or treachery offered Inguiomerus also an escape. The others were massacred all over the field. Many, trying to cross the Visurgis, perished from arrows shot from the bank, or forced under by the current, or ultimately by the press of the fleeing multitude and the collapse of the river edge. Some, clambering up the trees in shameful flight and hiding among the foliage, were made targets, amid much laughter, by the archers, summoned for the purpose. Others were killed by felling the trees.
XVIII.
Magna ea victoria neque cruenta nobis fuit. quinta ab hora diei ad noctem caesi hostes decem milia passuum cadaveribus atque armis opplevere, repertis inter spolia eorum catenis quas in Romanos ut non dubio eventu portaverant. miles in loco proelii Tiberium imperatorem salutavit struxitque aggerem et in modum tropaeorum arma subscriptis victarum gentium nominibus imposuit.
18.
The victory was great and not costly in casualties to us. From late morning until the night the killing went on and the Germans filled with their corpses and arms a stretch of ten miles. Among the plunder were the chains the Germans had brought for the Romans, as they never doubted the outcome of the battle. The troops acclaimed Tiberius imperator on the field of victory, then they raised a mound on which they placed, in the manner of a trophy, the captured arms and underneath an inscription with the names of the vanquished nations.
XIX.
Haut perinde Germanos vulnera, luctus, excidia quam ea species dolore et ira adfecit. qui modo abire sedibus, trans Albim concedere parabant, pugnam volunt, arma rapiunt; plebes primores, inventus senes agmen Romanum repente incursant, turbant. postremo deligunt locum flumine et silvis clausum, arta intus planitie et umida: silvas quoque profunda palus ambibat nisi quod latus unum Angrivarii lato aggere extulerant quo a Cheruscis dirimerentur. hic pedes adstitit: equitem propinquis lucis texere ut ingressis silvam legionibus a tergo foret.
19.
Not the wounds, not the loss of dear ones, not the terrible massacre infuriated the Germans as the sight of that trophy. Those, who just now were preparing to retire to settlements beyond the Albis river, hungered for a fight: they all grabbed arms, the people and tribal leaders, youths and elders pounced of a sudden on the Roman column, throwing it into disarray. Then they chose a place closed in by the river and the forest, inside which the ground was level, but narrow and boggy. All around a deep swamp encircled the forest, except for one side where the Angrivarii had erected an ample wall of earth by means of which to separate themselves from the Cherusci. Here their infantry halted; the cavalry was hidden by the forest, so to be at the rear of the legions once they entered it.
XX.
Nihil ex his Caesari incognitum: consilia locos, prompta occulta noverat astusque hostium in perniciem ipsis vertebat. Seio Tuberoni legato tradit equitem campumque; peditum aciem ita instruxit ut pars aequo in silvam aditu incederet, pars obiectum aggerem eniteretur; quod arduum sibi, cetera legatis permisit. quibus plana evenerant, facile inrupere: quis inpugnandus agger, ut si murum succederent, gravibus superne ictibus conflictabantur. sensit dux inparem comminus pugnam remotisque paulum legionibus funditores libritoresque excutere tela et proturbare hostem iubet. missae e tormentis hastae, quantoque conspicui magis propugnatores, tanto pluribus vulneribus deiecti. primus Caesar cum praetoriis cohortibus capto vallo dedit impetum in silvas; conlato illic gradu certatum. hostem a tergo palus, Romanos flumen aut montes claudebant: utrisque necessitas in loco, spes in virtute, salus ex victoria.
20.
Nothing of all this escaped Germanicus: he knew everything, plans, position, hidden and visible moves, and made ready to turn the enemy’s trickery to their own undoing. To the legate Seius Tubero he assigned the cavalry and the clearing inside the forest; he placed the infantry in such a way that a part would enter the forest by a level approach, a part would make their way over the barrier of piled earth blocking the path. He reserved for himself the arduous aspect of the operation and delegated the rest to his officers. The troops to whom the level approach had fallen advanced swiftly; those who had to overcome the barrier, as if it were a wall to be scaled, suffered terribly from the enemy above. Germanicus saw that a fight of that kind at close quarters was unfavorable to his men, so he had the legions retreat a short distance and gave orders to the slingers and stone throwers to use their missiles to disperse the enemy. [At the same time], war machines shot spears and the more the defenders stood exposed, the more losses they took. Having gained control of the embankment, Germanicus led the attack into the forest at the head of the praetorian cohorts, and there the fighting became hand to hand. The Germans had the swamp behind them, the Romans were closed in by the river and the hills: both sides were trapped by the nature of the place, so courage was the only hope, victory the only escape.